Saten Arclight
by Siatru
Summary: Saten Ruiko starts to remember bits and pieces of her past life after getting into an accident. (Powerful Saten) Post-Needless Manga. Begins a bit before the Sisters Arc. Rated M for violence


Disclaimer: I don't own To aru Majutsu no Index nor Needless

* * *

August 5

Saten woke up with a jolt, surprising the girl sleeping in an awkward position beside her bed enough to make her fall off her chair.

"Uwaah!" Thud.

Ignoring Uiharu for a moment, Saten blinked, confused. She did not remember sleeping. In fact, she didn't remember anything at all! Even her own name was a blank. Before she could panic, a voice pulled her out of her stupor.

"Saten-san!"

She turned to the source and saw a cute, happy face with flower adorned hair. It was a pleasant sight, but Saten was still confused.

"...Who are you?"

Those three words turned her smile upside down.

Uiharu stepped back, shock and utter disbelief plagued her adorable face.

"N-no way... Saten-san..."

The girl looked terrified to tears. Then just like that, faster than anyone could say 'amnesia', it all came back to her.

Saten Ruiko

Her Family

Academy City

Esper

Power Curriculum Program

Level 0

Sakugawa Middle High

Uiharu Kazari

Shirai Kuroko

Misaka Mikoto

Level Upper

The Truck!

Saten clutched her head as a sharp pain assaulted her right temple.

[The Fourth Wave]

Then as quickly as it came, the pain subsided.

Uiharu quickly went to her side. She wanted to help her friend but she didn't know what to do.

With her head finally clear, Saten noticed her friend's distress

"Uiharu?... I... I'm okay."

The girl's shoulders seemed to sag in relief as her worries lightened. It was at this point Saten realized that she was in a hospital room.

"No, you're not, you need to take it easy and lie down."

A man, a doctor, if his clothes were anything to go by, entered the room and advised her.

"You just woke up from a week long sleep after all."

After him came two familiar faces.

"Misaka-san, Shirai-san."

"How are you feeling, Saten-san?"

Misaka asked with apparent concern in her voice.

Saten mused over the question. She felt fine... except for that tightening under her chest that was making it a bit hard for her to breathe... She looked down to see the flower-decorated head of Uiharu. She was clinging to her in tears, muttering 'you idiot'.

Saten gently patted her head.

"I feel fine. Really guys, I'm alright!"

Although she was telling the truth, nobody bought it.

"Goodness, Saten... you were hit by a truck!"

Kuroko said her piece.

Even though it wasn't right to make them worry, Saten felt really happy to have such caring friends.

"I'm not lying, I feel great!"

Despite her efforts, her confidence was taken as a mere farce.

It did significantly ease their worries though. If Saten could act like this, it shouldn't be too bad. This was the general thought process of the two Tokiwadai girls. The doctor however, despite the test results supporting the patient's claim, was still a bit skeptic.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep!"

Saten nodded with a cheerful and confident grin.

"Hmm..."

The doctor cupped his chin in thought. There was something really odd about this case. True enough, the cuts and bruises she suffered in the accident had long since healed during her stay. There was no damage to her organs, including the brain, and little to none in her muscle tissues and not the tiniest crack on her bones. Either this girl was made of thick adamantium or just plain lucky.

Reports did say that the truck managed to slow down before colliding with Saten Ruiko. But still... regardless of all that, if her injuries were that light why didn't she regain consciousness for a week?

Shock?

Trauma?

Was there an esper ability at work here? He couldn't tell.

"I see... the test results do say that we don't have anything to worry about. What light injuries you have received at the accident have already healed and you're no less healthy than anyone else in this room. We can have you check out now with no worries... but I'll have you stay here for the rest of the day and tomorrow just to be safe. Rest well, Saten-san."

He bowed and left after the report. He needed to consult someone about this...

With the outsider gone, Uiharu pulled away from Saten. She looked angry, cutely so.

"Saten-san, what you did was reckless!"

"Ahehe…"

Saten could only scratch her head awkwardly.

"This is no laughing matter! You could've died!"

"Aw c'mon, you would've done the same."

Uiharu wanted to protest to that but realized that she would have indeed tried to save Saten even if that meant risking her own life. Thus, she settled with a pout.

Shirai and Misaka could only smile at the scene. With Saten's safety and well-being confirmed, there was no longer any need to worry.

"But Saten, you even forgot who I was; I thought you were suffering from Amnesia! I was really scared!"

"Hey! I just woke up then. I was still half-asleep."

Soon enough they were chatting like they always were

* * *

August 9

"Brrr~ Kinda cold today, isn't it?"

Saten hugged herself in an attempt to raise body temperature.

"Hmm..."

Uiharu tried to feel around her, but felt nothing but warm air.

"The weather's pretty warm today; it's still the middle of summer."

She looked at her friend in confusion.

"Eh? Really?"

Saten was a bit surprised, but continued to dig in her flavored shaved ice regardless. She had just been released from the hospital a couple of days ago and things were more or less back to normal.

"Honestly, are you sure that it's not just brain freeze you're feeling, Saten-san?"'

Said Kuroko with her usual haughty tone. Like they always did before, they met up with Kuroko and Misaka to hang out in their leisure time.

"I think I can tell the difference just fine, Shirai-san."

As usual, they were chatting away to pass the time in an outdoor cafe, switching from topic to topic at their own convenience. Although Mikoto looked a bit bothered when they started talking about that urban legend about clones. It was the same with Saten, even though she was the one who started that particular topic. Something about "clones" pinged in her mind, but she couldn't point out exactly what.

* * *

"Goodbye!"

"See you!"

"Bye bye~"

"Later!"

It wasn't until they've parted ways and when she was finally alone that things started to go awry.

"So cold..."

When she reached the front of her dorm room, she was already shivering from the abnormally cold temperature.

After she got inside she quickly locked the door and took off her clothes before rushing into the bathroom for a hot dip in the tub.

The water only felt lukewarm, oddly enough. Nevertheless, it served its purpose... At least until she was done with the bath. She was shivering again by the time she got dressed.

She covered herself with five layers of blankets and brewed herself a hot tea... like her bath, it was lukewarm and its warming effects only lasted while she drank.

She increased her blanket shield to seven layers. She could now see her breath.

"W-what the h-heck is this?"

"Was it winter already?" She thought.

But it was still summer, there's still autumn between the two seasons.

"Wait, I heard about this... what do they call this again?"

"Ah right, climate change!"

"..."

Despite the eureka moment, it was still cold and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Ugghh..."

She rolled over several times to wrap the blankets around her like a cocoon... It was somewhat effective.

"..."

Somehow or the other, she managed to drift off to sleep.

* * *

August 10

_"What the heck is she wearing in this weather?"_

Must be the general thought of all the passersby she came across, Saten assumed.

They were looking at her incredulously. She couldn't blame them. She was wearing a black winter trench coat, complete with scarf, wool gloves and earmuffs. She was also wearing a long-sleeved cardigan over her shirt underneath that overcoat.

All the while others were wearing light clothes; a lot of them were sweating. Some were even fanning themselves with whatever they could use. The sun was shining bright above the cloudless sky. She could feel the heat with her eyes. She could even see that mirage distortion thing in certain spots. Unfortunately her skin persistently told her that it was freezing and that she was just being delusional. She almost believed it too.

What in the world happened to her body? Did it become a hipster? Feeling hot in a blazing hot summer day was too mainstream?

She was going to catch a bad cold at this rate. She was already feeling feverish.

"What am I doing again?"

She felt the urge to just go back and retreat under her seven layered defense bunker. The one that's made of warm wooly blankets.

She had thought that going outside to bask under the mid-summer sun would alleviate her discomfort. Results left much to be desired.

As Saten lamented over the failure of her plan, she saw one of her friends, Misaka Mikoto, enter an alley. It was pretty easy to recognize the girl since she was wearing the Tokiwadai middle school uniform. Saten could only imagine the horror of wearing the same outfit every day, regardless of how cute it looked... The ups and downs of a prestigious school...

Even with her current dilemma, her curiosity and her innate mischievous nature managed to get the better of her... Thus, she tailed the electromaster.

"Come to think of it, wasn't there a rumor going around? Something about cash cards mysteriously appearing in this sort of place."

Saten wondered as her eyes searched for anything of the like.

There, she saw it, stuck behind one of the pipelines, looking out of place.

"Cash card Get!"

Apparently forgetting Misaka for the moment, Saten begun her treasure hunt.

* * *

"Why does this always happen to me?"

Saten quietly muttered to herself.

"Hey, what's with the getup? It's freaking hot, ya know!"

"That's right! Show some skin! Stop ruining our summer!"

"It feels hot just looking at you!"

Surrounded by thugs in a remote back alley with her back against the wall, Saten could only sigh in frustration. This always happens to her. You would think that such a prosperous and advanced metropolis like Academy City would have less to no problems with delinquency. But seeing as 80% of its population are students and that the power curriculum program that gives people "powers" or rather "special abilities" is undergone by all students, you would realize that "delinquency" is actually a much more serious matter.

Even though [Judgment] and [Anti-Skill] are around to keep the peace, the troublemakers vastly outnumber the peacekeepers.

Speaking of which, Saten usually tried to escape while she calls and waits for Judgment to rescue her, but... right now her mind was set on a different course of action.

_"That guy... He's probably the leader of these goons."_

As the thugs taunted and flaunted, she silently planned their demise.

It's either the one leading in the front by example or the cool-headed one in the back, acting like some kind of mastermind.

Since the latter was absent, it was most probably the former.

"Hey Aniki, doesn't it feel cold suddenly? It's like that girl's..."

There were five of them.

"Ah? What are you blabbering about?"

In that moment of distraction, Saten quickly stepped in range of the thug leader and sent a powerful kick between his legs, slamming her hard right knee directly into the family jewels without a single ounce of hesitation.

"AHGH! Fu-"

Saten made a fist with her middle finger protruding a sharp arc and followed up with a strike to the guy's throat with all the force she could muster from her arms and legs.

Then she grabbed the man's face with her other hand.

'Tssss~'

"...Ah..."

Forget crying out in pain, he couldn't even breath right.

With the lack of air and abundance of agony taking its toll, he fainted. He fell to the ground, half his face covered with 2nd degree burns. She managed to take down the head-thug in less than five seconds.

Seeing their reliable aniki beaten down so quickly, the group of thugs lost morale.

While they stood there stunned, Saten closed in on her next target.

She punched him in the gut with unusual strength. He keeled over and he fell to his knees as he clutched to his stomach. Taking advantage of the enemy's lowered position, Saten swiftly followed up with a heel drop on the back of his skull, smashing his face down against the hard pavement.

The remaining thugs got a hold of themselves and took defensive stances. But even with that, they didn't really feel any safer. They all broke into a cold sweat, fear gripped their hearts like a cold metal vice, as Saten studied them with eyes full of oppressive intent. A manic grin slowly formed on her face.

A fellow thug would go for the face or use some sort of weapon. A seasoned brawler would dodge, weave and parry while they deliver skillfully timed blows. An esper would've relied heavily on his ability with his arrogance. Judgment and Anti-skill would've tried to restrain them.

Saten fought as one of the dangerous sort. There was no hesitation in her attacks. Her strikes were swift blows to vital areas. She was showing no mercy. It was as if she was truly going for the kill.

As her opponent's fight or flight systems took their sweet time, Saten made her move. She rushed at her next target with her right fist at the ready. She threw a feint to the guy's face; he fell for it and raised his guard to protect his face. Saten retracted her arm and delivered a kick to his left rib, knocking the wind out of him. Then she grabbed both of his wrists.

'Tssss...'

"AAAAGGGGGHGHHHHHH!""

The man screamed in agony as he felt his wrists burn. It was like someone poked him with red hot metal rods. Except that the metal rods were wrapped around his skin. He was brought down to his knees by the pain, a dangerous position.

Saten grabbed the back of his head with both of her hands and smashed her right knee into his face with her full weight behind it, taking him out.

That was the breaking point for the other two.

"Holy Shit!"

"I'm outta here"

Choosing 'flight', they abandoned their friends and ran for their lives.

"...Huuu...haaa..."

Saten took deep breaths as she watched them flee. She felt fairly calm considering what just happened. Actually, she even felt a hint of disappointment.

She brought up her hands and stared at her palms.

"What... was that?"

She didn't know she could do those things.

Saten shifted her gaze to her fallen opponents. Two of the fallen bodies had quite a lot of blood on them.

It felt so easy, it was as if she was used to this. She felt that she could finish them off right now and she wouldn't feel any different.

"..."

Her eyes widened in shock.

The fact that she even thought of killing them scared her.

* * *

After calling the ambulance for the thugs she beat, Saten went straight back home and shut herself in. The abnormal cold was already gone but she was too busy rationalizing her thoughts to notice the good news.

Her mind, back then when she fought, that wasn't her... And how she burned those guys, wasn't that an ability? That was good news wasn't it?

"..."

Now she didn't know what to feel.

"Ugggh..."

She rolled around on her bed. She really wanted to see her friends right now. She wanted to see Uiharu and see what panties she was wearing.

"..."

"Hold on a sec..."

"Let's go back up a bit."

"I used an ability..."

"That means..."

She was no longer a [Level 0]. She was now a fully pledged ESPer.

Saten quickly got off her bed and went to the sink to fill a glass of tap water.

"Let's see... How did I do that again?"

[Source]

[Convert]

Now that she was consciously using her power, Saten realized hat she was running calculations in her mind. And before she knew it, the glass of water she was holding was frozen along with its contents.

"Whoaaa..."

"This is... Cyrokinesis!"

"But wait... Didn't I burn them instead?"

[Direct Flow]

[Reset Output]

'tsss~'

The cup and the ice in it was thawed and the water started to boil

"..."

Saten had pretty much forgotten about the fiasco earlier. It was their fault to begin with anyway. Right now she only wanted to rejoice for surpassing Level 0.

* * *

Chapter 1 end

Author's notes:

Well this crossover idea had been around for a while as simple crossover art. But it just looked like no one felt like writing with the idea... Sooo... I just couldn't take it anymore.

And some of you may have noticed that I omitted the Poltergeist arc and the Big Spider arc from reality, if you looked at the date. It pained me to this. Hopefully you guys can still enjoy this regardless of that DX

Also, this is my first fic... Please be gentle D:


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